Tips on writing headlines and stories to maximize search engine optimization and to increase readership

1. HOW TO GET PEOPLE TO SEE, READ
AND ENJOY YOUR STORIES
Online
Getting there, staying there

2. What we will learn
How to drive people to Web stories by writing
headlines that use effective search engine
optimization (SEO) strategies
How to write for online so that people find and
read your stories

3. It’s a sideways world
Users don’t browse – they search
 80% of Internet sessions begin with a search engine
 About 40% of traffic from search engines (SNO: 30%);
50% of that from Google (SNO: 75%)
Traffic also comes from other Web sites
 Facebook, Twitter, Drudge, blogs …
Visitors often come to a story sideways, bypassing
the homepage
 SNO: 25% typed in or bookmarked; 75% from other sites

4. What Google looks for
Google crawls, searches for and indexes words in the title bar, URL,
headline and tops of articles (includes summary in Publicus)

5. An example
When the pope died, The New York Times had this
headline:
 ‘Thousands flock to Vatican’
 Nobody flocked to the Web page
Then, an SEO expert saw it
 ‘Pope dies’
 People slammed the servers
Responding ≠ pandering

6. In print there is context

7. Say what?
Web heads are
often displayed out
of context. They
need to stand on
their own. (For
some, head is the
story.)

8. Write for the scanner
On the Web, it’s even more important to serve the
scanner (F-shaped: Nielsen Norman Group, 2006)

9. Headline rules and regs
Start with keywords
 Such as “Pope dies”
 First 11 characters, about 60 characters long
Use names, not descriptions, in headlines when a
famous person is involved
 “(North Carolina) Governor Perdue,” not just “Gov.”
 “Michael Jackson,” not just “Pop icon”

10. Michael Jackson or Pop Icon?

11. A few more rules and regs
If the person is not a celebrity, use keywords not
names
“Woman gives birth to eight children” (until the name
becomes well-known, then you can use “Nadya Suleman” or
“Octomom”)
Don’t forget to use company names in headlines
Write a metatitle for stories that will update with a
keyword-filled headline that won’t need to change

12. Points in Publicus

13. More rules and regs
Use city names
Yes: “Southport fire kills three”
No: “Fire kills three”
City names should be used with sports teams
Yes: “Wilmington Sharks win home opener”
No: “Sharks win home opener”
 “Port City” is not a well-known option people search for.
For columnists, put names upfront
“Master Gardener - Birds help your garden grow”
Know your readers
Hurricane, home sales, heroin

14. Helpful tools
Finding effective keywords
 http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com
 Example: “weather forecaster” used in 43 searches.
“Meteorologist” in 294
 http://google.com/trends
 Example: “meteorologist” far outranks “weather forecaster”
 https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
 Example: “weather forecaster” has 8,100 searches/month vs.
165,000 for “meteorologist.”

15. About articles
Hard news ledes outperform feature ledes because
of front-loaded keywords
 Who, what, when, where and why – inverted pyramid
 Remember, the first reader is likely a Web spider
Remember how Google searches
What goes up first, gets picked up first
File short and quick, then update
 Wire service thinking with constant updates
 Make a new article when there’s enough to merit it

16. Write for the scanner
On the Web, it’s even more important to serve the
scanner (F-shaped: Nielsen Norman Group, 2006)

17. Write for the Web
Good writing is good writing
 Don’t change the text just to stick in keywords
Pages with many references to location rank higher
in search engines
Avoid local jargon (like “Port City”)
Use keywords in links
Avoid all caps (resembles spam)

18. What would Google think?

19. Exercises
Let’s go to the handouts

20. Web writing is good writing
10 tips
Having a good story always helps
Break up long blocks of copy with subheads
One thought per paragraph
Paraphrase long quotes
Avoid listing numbers and stats in the text – make a
box instead

21. Web writing (cont.)
 Write for the eye – Not just scanners; look for
white space and get rid of long blocks of text. Use
boxes, timelines and other devices
 Be obvious
 Active voice
 Strong verbs
 Look at the art while you’re writing – they could
be right next to each other online

22. But that’s just good writing
Exactly

23. Summary
Front load headlines and text – 11, 60
Think about keywords
Control what you can – headlines, subheads, ledes
Online readers are scanners, grab their attention and
don’t let go

24. Sources
 Gil Asakawa (@GilAsakawa)
Manager of student media for the University of Colorado’s School of
Journalism and Mass Communication; previously manager of audience
development with MediaNews Group Interactive
 Dennis Joyce (@DJoyceTBO)
Metro editor at The Tampa Tribune
 Amy Eisman (@aeisman)
Director of media entrepreneurship and interactive journalism
at American University
 Presentation based on one by Michael Baker, editor of STATE Magazine,
Oklahoma State University, and former local news editor for The Oklahoman

25. SEO sources
 SEOmoz.org: http://seomoz.org
 SEOmoz Blog: http://www.seomoz.org/blog
 Matt Cutts: Gadgets, Google & SEO:
http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/
 SEO Browser.com: http://seo-browser.com
 PPC Blog: http://tools.ppcblog.com/
 Wordtracker.com:
http://freekeywords.wordtracker.com
 Google.com/trends:
http://google.com/trends
 Google Webmaster Tools:
http://www.google.com/webmasters/
 ReelSEO: http://www.reelseo.com/
 SEO Egghead:
http://www.seoegghead.com/blog/
 Search Engine Journal:
http://www.searchenginejournal.com/
 Search Engine Watch:
http://searchenginewatch.com/
 Search Engine Optimization 101:
http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/sear
ch-engine-optimization-101/
 Search Engine Watch Blog:
http://blog.searchenginewatch.com/
 John Battelle’s Searchblog:
http://battellemedia.com/
 SEO Chat: http://www.seochat.com/
 SEO Chat’s SEO Tools:
http://www.seochat.com/seo-tools/
 SEO Scoop: http://www.seo-scoop.com/
 Natural Search Blog:
http://www.naturalsearchblog.com/
 Applied SEO: http://www.appliedseo.com/
 Mashable – The Social Media Guide:
http://mashable.com
 Micro Persuasion – Steve Rubel:
http://www.micropersuasion.com/
 Website Analytics Toolbox (great list of
tools):
http://designm.ag/resources/website-
analytics-toolbox/
 Compiled by Gil Asakawa
 Manager of Audience Development,
MediaNews Group Interactive